Abingdon

Abingdon sits on the Thames, and the river shapes almost everything about how the town feels. Broad water meadows open out along its edges, giving long flat views over grass and willow that make the town feel more spread out and green than its compact centre suggests. Abbey Meadow, right by the water, is the clearest expression of this - a stretch of open riverside parkland with an open air swimming pool set into it, busy with walkers and swimmers whenever the weather allows. Beyond the town, the land rolls gently towards the Berkshire Downs and out into working farmland, so Abingdon reads as a market town with genuine countryside on its doorstep rather than a suburb of Oxford, even though the city is close by.

Most visitors stay either right in town or just outside it. In the centre there are options like Red Lion Accommodation and Rowen Guesthouse, while Kingfisher Barn Bed & Breakfast and B&B Rafters offer a quieter, more rural base on the edges. For something more standardised, the Hilton Garden Inn Abingdon Oxford, Premier Inn Abingdon A34 and Courtyard Oxford South by Marriott sit conveniently near the main roads, useful if you're passing through or working nearby. Those wanting to be outdoors properly can head to High Lodge Farm or Peach Croft Farm Certificated Location, both set among the fields that surround the town.

The flat, watery landscape lends itself to gentle activity - walking the riverside paths, swimming outdoors at Abbey Meadow, or getting out onto the water itself. Inland, the countryside turns into proper family territory: Millets Farm Centre and its falconry displays draw people out to see the land worked rather than just admired, and Earth Trust manages a stretch of the wider landscape with walking trails across its farmland and hills. For something entirely different, Pendon Indoor Model Village and Railways recreates the wider region in miniature, a nod to the rolling countryside outside in painstaking, tiny detail. The Abingdon Treasure Trail and Snakes & Ladders give younger visitors a reason to explore the town on foot, and the White Horse Leisure & Tennis Centre covers the more active end of things.

Altogether, Abingdon works well as a base for anyone who wants a proper market town with the Thames and open countryside right at its edge, rather than a landscape you have to travel far to reach.